The last couple weeks I’ve helped out at a small handful of tryouts. Each of those tryouts I was put in charge of watching the pitchers. I would say over 80% of the kids I watched were unknowingly using one improper motion that was killing their velocity as a pitcher.
It’s so simple to fix this mechanics problem, in fact, it took me less than three minutes to help a ten year old fix this mistake last week.
What’s the flaw? [Read more...]
If you’re not done with the season, you’ve probably only got a handful of games left. Depending on how many games you’ve got under your belt, you may be ready for a break. I’ve gotten a few parents looking to do some lessons through August and into September, but I’ve told them to wait and see how their son’s hunger for more baseball was. I wanted to spend just a minute and communicate the advice we give to youth baseball players in the off season. Keep in mind, the older you are, the shorter the off season will be. [Read more...]
This last Sunday Justin Verlander of the Detroit Tigers picked up his 12th win of the season. He’s now sporting a 2.15 era and is one of the hottest starters in the league right now. I wanted to talk through his start and point out some of the reasons he’s having great success and what you can do to improve your own game.
Watch this clip a couple times. The first time through just watch how the batters are responding to his pitches. The second time through I want you to count how many full count strike outs he had. Once you’ve done this, read on below.
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OK, here are the three things I want to point out that Verlander is doing extremely well. All of these are within your reach to learn as a pitcher, however, it will take some dedication on your part. [Read more...]
There is some great competition out there these days. That especially rings true if you are a right-handed pitcher. A right handed pitcher is the most competitive position in all of baseball. How are you going to stand out?
How much do you know about biomechanics? pitching mechanics?
How much time do you spend each day on your functional fitness?
Are you mentally and emotionally stable on the mound?
Are you eating like a winner? nutrition plan?
How’s your attitude on and off the field?
Do you consider yourself a leader?
Do you set pitching specific goals? If so, what are you working on right now?
Do you have the courage to tell your coach you want the ball in a crucial situation?
Does your coach and your team have confidence that you can do the job anytime?
Are you fully prepared each game mentally, physically and emotionally? [Read more...]
It has been a great couple of weeks for me. It seems like every year I work with more talented pitchers. I can’t believe the velocity coming out of some of these athletes not to mention the nasty breaking pitches some of them are throwing. It’s really fun to see all of their hard work paying off. Thanks for working hard guys!
A couple of things came to mind today while working with a few new pitchers. It’s the simple stuff that matters most.
First of all, I was working with a very raw pitcher who was really young (12 years old). I was working with him on his balance. From the posture phase in the stretch position, to leg lift and then to foot strike. So many pitchers in this point of their delivery have already completely botched their chances of throwing their absolute best. They end up throwing slower, losing control of each pitch and worse; hurting their arm when they continue using some of their bad habits. [Read more...]
Sunday evening I sat down in front of the TV to watch the Miami Heat take on the Dallas Mavericks in Game 6 of the NBA Finals. Getting late into the game, the Mavericks opened a pretty hefty lead, though not out of reach of the Miami offense. I kept waiting for the LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh show to make one last run… but they couldn’t. Something seemed to create a stiffness in their play. Wade dribbled a ball off his foot, and James tried to push the ball up the key while guarded heavily by three Mavericks only to throw up a ridiculously nonathletic shot. What causes this stiff play in sports? [Read more...]
We received some great comments and questions about our newsletter last week called “warm up routine for pitchers.” Many pitchers agreed that their warm up program consists of jogging a little around the field with their teammates and just playing catch. If you missed the article, just click on the link above and read it. It’s a great one!
This is one of the questions we received from a concerned parent and coach in regards to the article.
What about after the game? What kind of cool down stretching do you suggest? What about icing the arms, etc?
A cool down is just as important than warming up to pitch. I believe many arm injuries begin when pitchers don’t take the cooling down process seriously. [Read more...]
We received a question today that has been asked several times so I think it’s appropriate to send out to everyone.
What is the proper amount of throws a pitcher should make before taking the mound?
A proper warm up includes much more than just throwing. Warm up to throw, don’t throw to warm up. Your warm ups should include a jog around the field, high knees forward and backward, form running, karaoke left and right, walking lunges forward and backwards, Inch worms – hip flexor stretches, leg and arm stretches which include a ton of ballistic stretching, walking toe touches and some core training. You should work up a bit of a sweat before you pick up the ball and start throwing.
The longer you spend warming up your entire body [Read more...]
The other day we sent everyone an e-mail that talked about pitch count and what is acceptable and what isn’t. We also discussed that Leagues should actually change their number of innings pitched rule to number of pitches. The number of pitches is more important than the number of innings because you can pitch 30 pitch innings. After three innings of that any pitcher can be toast.
We received a number of responses to the e-mail thanking us for it, but one that stood out came from Ric from New South Wales. Pay attention to what he writes about their league rules for pitch count. Do you agree or disagree what they are doing there?
If you’re a hitter, what type of pitcher would you rather face? One that throws extremely hard and throws a straight changeup that slows down 15 miles an hour? Or, would you rather face that same pitcher who throws just as hard but comes at you with a change up that’s 8 miles an hour slower yet has a nasty break?
I would choose pitcher number one; I’m certain you would too. The perfect combination for any pitcher is to have both change of speed and movement.
I see so many pitchers “guiding” [Read more...]
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